Government is what we expect it to be

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Tuesday August 09, 2011 · 8:48 PM PDT

2011/08/09 · 20:48

I’ve grown cynical, believing no matter what leaders we elect, things will keep getting worse for most Americans as the wealthy use government to redistribute our wealth and freedom to themselves at an ever-increasing rate.

But we once had liberal and progressive leaders from both parties who used government to expand economic security and personal freedom, materially improving the lives of Americans: Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson. They all did so over forceful opposition from powerful conservative forces.

Then Reagan popularized the self-fulfilling belief that “government is the problem.” The American people have largely bought Reagan’s great lie, and we now only expect from our government waste, corruption and impoverishment. As long as that’s what we expect, that’s what we’ll get.

Once, we did expect more of our government of, by, and for the people. We demanded leaders make the government work for us, not against us. We must again expect that our governement will do us good and not harm. We must again demand that our leaders expect the same. Until we do, we will continue to see our wealth and freedom siphoned off by a wealthy and powerful few.

"Entitlements"

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Wednesday July 27, 2011 · 6:00 PM PDT

2011/07/27 · 18:00

The reason that Social Security and Medicare are "entitlements" is because we, the working people of America, paid cash money for them as FICA taxes. Of course we are entitled to the services that we have bought and paid for. Raiding those services up to subsidize the wealthy is theft. Return tax rates on the rich to 1950s levels & close corporate tax loopholes, and the problem is fixed immediately!

<-- Sent to my local newspaper

Possible Voter Suppression Fraud in NC?

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Thursday October 23, 2008 · 11:39 AM PDT

2008/10/23 · 11:39

I was volunteering at the Obama campaign offices today, and fielded a call from a woman who was reporting possible voter suppression fraud being committed in Greensboro, NC. Now before I get any further, I want to say that nothing is confirmed, and there is a distinct possibility that the story was merely the result of one person's confusion. But I figured that I should put it out there to see if anyone else is hearing any similar stories. That might help us determine whether or not this is something to be concerned about. Details are over the jump...

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Saturday August 26, 2006 · 1:52 PM PDT

2006/08/26 · 13:52

Over on one of my other favorite blogs, Emphasis Added, I was just arguing with one of the regular conservative commenters on the subject of whether or not a Democratic president would have the nads to do what needed to be done to keep Americans safe. Out of that discussion, I came up with the following reasons why our next Democratic president will do a better job protecting us against anyone or any force that poses a real threat to America or Americans. Read More

Enviro DeathMatch: Gov Schweitzer kicks Immanuel Kant's Ass

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Saturday July 29, 2006 · 7:42 AM PDT

2006/07/29 · 07:42

Between An Inconvenient Truth, Gov. Schweitzer's recent diary on energy strategy, DarkSyde's recent diary on peak oil, and a conversation I had with a Jet Propulsion Labs engineer on a plane trip recently, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and have come to the conclusion that the whole philosophical underpinning of the environmental movement is entirely unsuited to support the changes actually needed in our society. Modern environmentalism has all the structural integrity of Boston's Big Dig.

That's why we have to pit Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana vs. Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant of Prussia. Two men enter. One man leaves. In the balance: the fate of our environment and our nation's energy security.

Make the jump to see how it all goes down... Read More

2 new constitutional amendments proposed!

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Wednesday April 19, 2006 · 5:53 PM PDT

2006/04/19 · 17:53

Amendment XXVIII (proposed): Money is not speech.

Amendment XXIX (proposed): Corporations are not people.

Leading up to the 2006 midterms, Democrats should pledge to enact these two constitutional amendments. This would do many things.

First, they are simple, straight forward and hard to argue with. Basically, they are just statements of obvious fact. But they would have profound progressive reverberations through our legal and political fabric.

Second and third on the flip... Read More

V for Vendetta

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Thursday March 16, 2006 · 6:17 AM PST

2006/03/16 · 06:17

I will be there opening weekend. I'm excited, but also scared by this one. I loved much of V when I read it in the late '80s. (Particularly the parts Alan Moore had written years before in England. I found that the ending he wrote for DC at the time kind of unraveled for me -- but that could be smoothed over in a screen play.) I also loved the intro he wrote for the DC printing in the late '80s.

But I'm a bit scared of this thing being made now.

more... Read More

2 new constitutional amendments proposed! (w/poll)

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Tuesday March 14, 2006 · 7:37 AM PST

2006/03/14 · 07:37

Amendment XXVIII (proposed): Money is not speech.

Amendment XXIX (proposed): Corporations are not people.

Leading up to the 2006 midterms, Democrats should pledge to enact these two constitutional amendments. This would do many things.

Second and third on the flip... Read More

Call Our Beloved Nation To A Higher Destiny

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Monday January 16, 2006 · 2:59 PM PST

2006/01/16 · 14:59

In the days ahead, we must not consider it unpatriotic to raise certain basic questions about our national character. We must begin to ask "Why are there forty-million poor people in a nation overflowing with such unbelievable affluence?" Why has our nation placed itself in the position of being God's military agent on earth, and intervened recklessly in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic? Why have we substituted the arrogant undertaking of policing the whole world for the high task of putting our own house in order?

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1968
"Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" p. 133

more after the flip: Read More

VA GOV - GOP Cousin Working Hard For Kaine!

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Thursday September 22, 2005 · 8:46 AM PDT

2005/09/22 · 08:46

Here's the short version: I just got back in town from a trip up the east coast that included dinner with a cousin who lives in Williamsburg, VA. She and her husband are ex-Army and are registered Republicans, and they are pulling out all the stops for Kaine.

Details in extended comments: Read More

Inapropriate comments on Katrina and Pat Robertson w/ Poll

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Sunday August 28, 2005 · 11:07 AM PDT

2005/08/28 · 11:07

My spouse and I are sitting here watching the Weather Channel while I surf DailyKos. The picture of Pat Robertson on the front page of the New York Post made us wonder: Is God punishing America for the comments from the head of the church of "I Hate You?" After all, this kind of thing fits exactly into Pat's own logic about God's wrath, yes? We've let America fall into such moral decay that this hateful prick is considered a moral leader and (God forbid) a "man of God." Just a thought.

Another observation after the jump: Read More

Democratic framing disaster! Let's fix this mess. (w/Poll)

PatrioticallyIncorrect

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Thursday March 10, 2005 · 8:06 AM PST

2005/03/10 · 08:06

So I saw something this morning that kinda pissed me off. I got an email from the Democratic party asking me to sign a petition regarding Social Security. While I was at the Democrats.org site I decided to take a look around and saw a link called "Get Dem Gear."

Mostly kinda bland stuff; the "True Blue Democrat" items looked OK, but I'd feel like a stooge wearing them. I'd rather they offer something that offered a declaration of values that the Democratic party stands for. I would say that the new line of posters they offer featuring a Joe Camel-like donkey with lame ripoffs of popular marketing slogans was a nice try, but I'd be lying.

Then I saw a bumper sticker they're selling which reads "Democrats Have Moral Values Too." Does this enrage you like it does me? This is the reason, on one bumper sticker, why we keep losing despite running against a party which is staggeringly corrupt and incompetent in governance (they are certainly not incompetent in running campaigns -- that, shamefully, is our claim to fame).

Let's deconstruct and fix this disaster after the jump... Read More

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